


got a kiss (with your name on it)

by bloominsummer



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:27:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22034029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloominsummer/pseuds/bloominsummer
Summary: Wonwoo's problem roots from Mingyu’s determination to find him someone to kiss at midnight on January 1st.
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu, Kwon Soonyoung | Hoshi/Lee Jihoon | Woozi
Comments: 24
Kudos: 475





	got a kiss (with your name on it)

**Author's Note:**

> since I've itched to write some meanie for months now, here's my last contribution to the tag for 2019 (and also my first for 2020). i hope everyone's concluded their year with happiness and here's to more love in the year ahead :-)
> 
> [before you read](https://twitter.com/bioominsummer/status/1211945839095992320?s=20)

**December 18, 14:20**

Soonyoung is practically nuzzling into the crook of Jihoon’s neck right in the middle of the busy cafe and Wonwoo loses what tiny bit of appetite he had for today’s menu of creamy mushroom fettucine. 

He pushes his plate away and stares across the table pointedly.

“I’m happy for you two and all, but watching you act like this is so jarring,” says Wonwoo to his two friends.

They’d just become a couple recently after months of denial, mostly on Soonyoung’s part. Jihoon’s always been terrifyingly attuned to his emotions—the realising aspect of them and not so much the communicating bit. Still, he was the first out of the two of them to confide in Wonwoo about possibly having developed romantic feelings for the other person. Wonwoo saw it coming from a mile away then, but never would he have predicted that once they get together, their honeymoon phase would last much longer than a week.

He can only take so many idle touches and private smiles that are definitely not meant for a public setting before they all start to get incredibly nauseating. Wonwoo only means, they’re here to have lunch and study, but he feels like he was called out for the mere purpose of being the third wheel. 

Technically speaking, there’s four of them present at the table, but Mingyu sat down next to him an hour ago and started doing his tutorial problems without paying the happy couple any mind. The youngest of the group hasn’t said a word since, which is extremely unhelpful to Wonwoo’s situation.

“Then stop watching,” Jihoon retorts with no heat, while Soonyoung just smiles lovingly against his boyfriend’s skin. 

Wonwoo feels like gagging.

“Hyung,” Mingyu calls from his left, finally looking up from his fluid mechanics problem, “Jihoon-hyung’s right. Better stop watching.”

Ah, maybe there’s a reason why Mingyu’s eyes have been cast downward the entire time. Besides him actually having to do some studying, that is. He’s avoiding _this_ , too, having to witness his two hyungs act lovey-dovey with each other when they would usually bicker about the most insignificant things. That one time, Wonwoo panicked when he walked in on Soonyoung holding up a chair in the air, about to throw it at Jihoon, only to find out they were having a full-blown argument about the best fabric softener brand. 

“Nonu’s just jealous that I’ll have someone to kiss for the countdown this year,” Soonyoung speaks up, detaching himself from Jihoon to reach for his sweetened iced tea.

He sips the drink with playful condescension dancing in his chocolate eyes.

Wonwoo hopes he chokes on those ice cubes he likes to chew so much. 

“You’re going to kiss _Jihoon_. That’s not something to be jealous of.”

Jihoon makes a noise of protest. “Hey, I’ll have you know—”

“That he is a _great_ kisser.” Soonyoung finishes for him. Wonwoo wishes he was dying, it’d be less painful than having to participate in this conversation for a second longer. “Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show-stopping, spectacular.” 

Okay, now Soonyoung is just quoting Lady Gaga. And why does Jihoon have that stupid, fond look on his face? Oh, God. That’s… love, isn’t it? The younger of the two leans in and plants a kiss on Soonyoung’s cheek, which immediately bursts a shade of wild pink upon the contact. 

Next to him, Mingyu lets out an annoyed groan. “See?” he asks, pouting to Wonwoo. “That’s what you get if you keep riling them up.”

Wonwoo gives him an apologetic nod and decides to leave the boyfriends alone. They’re already back inside their private bubble anyway, they won’t notice anything in their surrounding for another ten to fifteen minutes. He lifts up his fork to start eating again, though he's quickly cut off when Mingyu asks him a question out of the blue.

“Do you want someone to kiss at midnight? On New Year’s Eve?”

Wide-eyed, Wonwoo turns to face Mingyu. When Soonyoung mentioned that bit about the kiss, he was joking around, as he often does. Mingyu must know this from almost a whole year of experience being in their circle, so there really isn’t any reason for him to take Soonyoung’s remark seriously. It was a joke.

“I can help you with that.” Mingyu continues before Wonwoo even has the chance to think of a proper reply.

If Mingyu ends up volunteering to kiss Wonwoo… let’s just say Soonyoung won’t see the sunrise tomorrow morning. Or ever again. 

“I can set you up with one of the noonas from my Home Economics club.”

Oh.

_Ohhhh_. 

Of course, Mingyu’s not considering _that_ possibility. Sometimes Wonwoo forgets that he’s the only person who knows how he truly feels about Mingyu— the only one aware of the candle he holds aflame for the younger for so long. He had considered coming clean to Jihoon once, when the younger brought up liking Soonyoung as more than just a friend. It was a fleeting thought that resurfaced because he saw the similarities between their experiences, but Wonwoo ended up deciding against it. 

Maybe it was for the better. 

Jihoon’s story concludes with a happy ending, while Wonwoo’s not sure his will ever move on from this particular chapter. 

Not that he dislikes the chapter as a whole. Being friends with Mingyu—he’d even consider them _best_ friends—is a real blessing and not just because he gets free lunches every now and then courtesy to Mingyu’s hidden talent for cooking.

“Gyu, that’s okay, really.” He lets out a nervous laugh. 

How exactly do you say, _I’m not interested in dating anyone but you_ to a friend who’s always seen you as a brother and nothing more?

The answer, Wonwoo thinks dejectedly, is that you don’t. You hold those words in and pray that they won’t escape you the second you let your guard down. 

“No! It’s not a problem.” Bright eyes meet his own and Wonwoo wants to cry. He glances at Soonyoung and Jihoon, but they’re still sharing a private moment between them. “I think you’ll like Jeongyeon-noona.” At this point, hoping is futile. All is lost. “You know her, right?”

Wonwoo gulps, feeling tidal waves in his stomach. “We’ve talked like, once.”

Mingyu’s smile wavers for a second before he catches himself and beams at Wonwoo. Had he not been shocked by the turn of events, Wonwoo would have captured his hesitance, but one blink and he’s missed Mingyu’s expression.

“Great!” There’s something slightly off about his enthusiasm, though Wonwoo can’t pinpoint what exactly is amiss. “I’ll see if she’s single and interested in a date.”

“Gyu.” Wonwoo tries one more time, just to be a masochist. “You really don’t have to.”

“I want to, hyung.” Mingyu smiles at him, baring his sharp canines and looking so astonishingly beautiful that Wonwoo’s insides twist at the sight. “You deserve to be happy, you know?”

The younger returns his attention back to his book, perfectly oblivious to how Wonwoo’s heart is frayed where he’s wearing it on his sleeve for him and him alone. Wonwoo shifts his gaze onto his plate and wonders why he’s feeling more nauseous now than before.

**December 23, 11:35**

Wonwoo kicks pebbles on the side of the road while he waits for his date to show up, not knowing what to expect. Mingyu just sent him Jeongyeon’s phone number a couple of days ago right after his exams ended, along with the time and place for their supposed date. Wonwoo would have cancelled, except Mingyu said, _she’s really excited for it!_ and Wonwoo felt guilty if he didn’t at least make an appearance.

He understands perfectly how shitty this is, using someone else to cover up for his own cowardice, but Wonwoo resolves he’d set things straight if she ends up wanting something more than what he can offer in a friendly capacity.

“Hey, Wonwoo.” A velvety voice calls his name, making Wonwoo turn toward the source.

The charming smile he’s met with is impossible to resist, so Wonwoo offers her a nervous one of his own. Jeongyeon’s dolled herself up really nicely, her shoulder-length hair worn in loose waves and cute bobby pins holding her hair in perfect formation to one side. Wonwoo praises the higher power for letting him wake up on time this morning so that he doesn’t look terribly unkept standing next to her.

“Hi, uh. Hi.”

“Sorry I kept you waiting,” she says, still smiling at him. A bit shy, though Wonwoo understands why that might be the case.

She is certainly beautiful, there’s no argument there. If only…

“Ah, no.” Wonwoo shakes his head, both to pull his mind out of the gutter and to let her know that everything’s fine on his end. “It’s okay. I just got here myself.”

Jeongyeon walks toward the entrance of the restaurant, huffing when a particularly cold wind blows over them, making them both shiver. “You could’ve ordered first and waited inside.”

He should have done that— it would have made things slightly less awkward than their current predicament. But it seems like when it comes to these things, Wonwoo’s brain is simply out of commission. He’s been way too on edge to even think logically, but with Jeongyeon’s joviality easing his worries, Wonwoo manages to regain some functions of his central nervous system.

“I mean,” he says quickly, stepping forward to hold open the door for her. “Mingyu said this was your favourite place, so I figured I’d get your recommendations before making an order.”

“Alright, that’s a smart move.” She gives him an impressed look, but Wonwoo thinks there’s a big chance that she can see right through his act and is just being nice by letting it slide. “Let me tell you which dishes I like best.”

**December 23, 14:40**

The date is not entirely a disaster. The flow of their conversation became natural once Wonwoo told himself to stop worrying so much, and then they started talking about anything and everything. Sometimes little anecdotes of Mingyu would sneak their way into their talk since he’s one of the subjects that bridges between their two worlds. It threw Wonwoo off his game for a moment whenever this happened, but he’d like to think he bounced back in record time. 

He learned about Jeongyeon’s family and her pets, their plans for the upcoming holidays. She told him what she wants to do with her degree once she graduates. Wonwoo listened to her intently, awe barely contained upon realising that someone his age already has their future mapped out in great details. When Wonwoo told her as much, she became flustered from the compliment, pink dusting her cheeks in addition to the peach-toned blush she was wearing. His turn came to share, so he offered her stories about his friends, skirting around ones that involve Mingyu. By the end of it, he even felt comfortable enough to tell her a short one about his brother. 

In another life, Wonwoo would have enjoyed this date a little differently.

A lot differently, perhaps. 

When it’s time for them to part, Wonwoo plays the card roulette with her—just to be fair—and gets his card chosen. Not a problem. Footing the bill is the least he can do after all the trouble she’s gone through to meet him today.

“This was fun,” Jeongyeon says while tucking her hair behind her ear. “I don’t suppose we’ll be scheduling a second date,” she chuckles lightly, sounding less offended than Wonwoo thought she would be, “but I’m glad I got this curiosity out of the way. Getting myself a new friend out of this isn’t so bad either.”

Wonwoo is nodding along with her, grateful for the amiable tone she still maintains, until the her words finally register in his mind.

“What do you mean, ‘curiosity’?”

“Oh.” She seems surprised, which is somehow a good look on her. “Mingyu didn’t tell you?”

He shakes his head. 

“He’s such a nice boy,” Jeongyeon notes, her expression fond. 

Wonwoo understands perfectly where she’s coming from. Mingyu has that effect on people no matter where he goes. 

“I’ve got a bit of a crush on you, Wonwoo.”

Wait. What? Did he just hear that correctly?

“I watched you rap… six months ago?” She gazes up at the cloudy afternoon sky, fingers toying with the strap of her bag. Is she nervous? Wonwoo thinks she might be. He would be, if he were in her shoes right now. “During open mic night. Then I saw you walked Mingyu to the club the week after, so I asked him about you.” 

Mingyu’s never told him this story, Wonwoo is sure he would have remembered if he had. He also would have said no to this date if he had known about this. 

“He said you weren’t interested in the very least in the romance department, but he’d let me know if anything changes.”  


That isn’t entirely inaccurate, though it’s not like Wonwoo put out a public announcement about being abstinent from dating. He just kept on politely declining Soonyoung's attempt at introducing him to guys from his dance club and ignoring Jihoon's not-so-subtle mentions about his single friends. 

If Mingyu knew his stance on the matter, why even go through all of this to set him up with other people he barely knows? Mingyu has a good heart, but this whole thing makes very little sense. 

Before he can spiral further into these thoughts, Jeongyeon continues by saying, “Which… I guess something did? But it also didn’t at the same time.”

“I’m really sorry.” Wonwoo gives her his best attempt at looking and sounding apologetic. Today must have been such an anticlimactic experience for her, a huge letdown. “I was under the impression Mingyu bribed you into doing this or something.”

She laughs mirthfully at his pathetic attempt at a joke, her eyes twinkling. “Come on, give yourself a little credit. It’s not that hard to like you.” She pats him once on the upper arm before moving away. “I’ll get going. Thank you again for today, it was really nice.”

Jeongyeon is waving goodbye, walking toward the intersection with light steps—

“Jeongyeon,” Wonwoo calls out to her.

She whips around, her hair blown in twelve different directions by strong wind as she does so. “Yes?”

“How about I walk you back?”

The girl in front of him laughs again, a soft sound. “I’d like that, actually. See? You’re sweet.”

**December 29, 13:22**

Wonwoo avoids answering Mingyu’s texts for a couple of days after his non-date with Jeongyeon, but Mingyu must have gotten an answer out of her somehow, because he shot him a message saying he’s sorry it didn’t work out, followed by a name, time, and place for his next date. He might start calling these dates _casting calls_ if they always involve him acting like he’s there out of his own volition every time he goes to one.

Today’s not any different than last week. Wonwoo and his date are at a ramyeon shop near their college, a known cheap and tasty establishment for college students with light wallets. Sejeong is extremely pleasant, Wonwoo’s shared a bunch of classes with her last semester and they are on good terms, so to speak. Not in an, _I’ve got a bit of a crush on you_ kind of way.

Thank God for small mercies.

Wonwoo confirmed this beforehand, earning an incredulous look from Sejeong along with a teasing, “Someone’s confident.”

No, Wonwoo’s not confident. Wonwoo just doesn’t want the surprise revelation to give him a big headache as the last one did. At least this way he possesses all the information he needs before they proceed, so he can act accordingly.

After they’re finished with their respective meals, Sejeong sends him a toothy smile from across the table, her perfect pearly whites out on display. 

“Soooo,” she drawls out. How playful; she reminds him of Soonyoung a bit. “Are we going to keep pretending that you’re here because you want to be?”

Wonwoo winces. She’s sharp—so obviously she's caught on to his little act. Wonwoo’s a terrible actor, that’s why even though he and Seokmin took up theatre at the same time, years later he still ended up as the lighting tech while the younger snatched the lead role in their latest production. Everyone joked around for a week about it, not that Wonwoo minded. 

Only Mingyu told him it was because he was responsible and always did such a great job managing his tasks that they didn’t trust anyone else to fill in his shoes. 

But enough about Mingyu. 

Mingyu’s the reason behind the constant pounding in his head he’s had for these past few weeks, it helps him little to keep thinking about the guy.

Nodding at Sejeong, Wonwoo offers her an, “I’m sorry.”

He’s been saying that _a lot_ lately. 

“It’s alright,” she waves him off, a little dismissive but not unkind. “We can just hang out, no expectations.”

“Mingyu likes to play cupid, it’s—”

“Cute,” Sejeong completes his sentence for him, though cute isn’t the word Wonwoo had in mind. It's more along the lines of overbearing. “You don’t know how to say no to him, do you?”

Wonwoo considers the question. Sejeong is sitting in front of him despite knowing that Wonwoo’s heart is not in this, which means Mingyu's also got his hooks in her. 

“Do _you_?” he throws the question back.

Sejeong laughs with her whole body, head thrown back in amusement and shoulders shaking rather excessively for someone trying to keep a good first impression in front of their date. This relaxes Wonwoo—it means they’re past that initial territory of pretence. They can just be who they are to each other now: two people who genuinely enjoy each other’s company in strictly friendly terms. 

“God, no,” she tells him, honest. “How does someone pull off the puppy-eyed look so well? He can stop wars with that expression.”

“Or start them,” Wonwoo points out.

She fixes him with a look that throws all of Wonwoo’s arguments out the window. “This is _Mingyu_ we’re talking about. He cried making scramble eggs once because he felt bad for the mother hen whose eggs he was using.” 

That’s stupidly adorable, and a new fact about Kim Mingyu that doesn’t help Wonwoo to move on from him.

As if he’s trying to in the first place—Wonwoo’s entirely that hopeless when it comes to Mingyu.

“You’re right,” Wonwoo eventually sighs, defeated by her impenetrable logic.

“I’ll go to Jisoo-oppa’s birthday party with you if it helps.”

He immediately looks up at her in fear of having heard her wrong. “What?”

“We don’t even have to kiss at midnight.”

Wonwoo bangs his head on the table. The sound he makes is quite loud, so people are definitely looking in his direction. To avoid having to deal with their stares, he just continues to rest his forehead on the table as he asks Sejeong, “He told you about _that_?”

“I have a way of getting people to open up to me,” comes the answer, complete with a soothing lilt. Applying healing salve to the burn, whatever. “Seriously, though. It will get you out of this inconvenience and I’d have performed a good deed to start the new decade. A win-win situation for both of us.”

Turning his head to press his cheek against the wood of the table, Wonwoo squints his eyes at Sejeong suspiciously. “I think you just want me to buy you dessert after this.”

“Wow. You can read people’s minds?” asks Sejeong, faux-amazed by Wonwoo’s deduction skills. She leans back in her seat and crosses her arms over her chest, waiting for his decision. “So, what do you say, Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo lifts his head off the table.

“What kind of dessert do you like?”

**December 29, 23:51**

As Seokmin pushes him into the corner behind the couch, forcing him to fold his long limbs awkwardly so they can both hide together in the cramped space, Wonwoo begrudgingly says, “I don’t understand why we’re here now if the party’s in two days.”

“The actual birthday is in 10 minutes, Wonwoo-hyung,” the younger replies to him with a patience that matches Mother Theresa’s. Wonwoo has been complaining for the last ten minutes straight. “Don’t sulk because we’re taking away your precious sleep time.”

“He’s just cranky because Mingyu’s not here.” Soonyoung’s whisper carries through the quiet of the house from where he’s crouching by the standing lamp Jisoo got from IKEA, doing a truly abysmal job of hiding himself.

Seokmin pats him on the shoulder once in consolation. “You know that Mingyu’s sister is in town for the day.”

“I know that,” Wonwoo grumbles. It’s just that he still feels slighted that he got dragged out of bed by a jacked hamster on steroids and his right-hand man, an equally jacked Lee Jihoon. “My brother is in town, too. Why am I not excused?”

“You _live_ with your brother.” It’s Jihoon who replies this time, his tone mildly irritated. Wonwoo can’t tell for sure, but he thinks Jihoon’s somewhere near the kitchen counter. “Like, in the same apartment.”

Well, that’s true.

“Still.”

“With all due respect, please shut up, hyung,” Minghao hisses from under the couch. “At least we’re not making you decorate with Seungkwan.”

He shudders just from the thought. Wonwoo glances at the closed door at the end of the hall, streams of light emerging from the space between the bottom of the door and the floor. Seungkwan’s in there with Hansol and Chan, supposedly accessorising the inside of Jisoo’s bedroom for his birthday. 

Wonwoo is pretty sure the youngest ones of their friend group are turning it to look like Santa vomited all over the place after a bad Christmas run instead. There’s quite a big chance of that happening, since Hansol was holding a bunch of leftover decorations from the Christmas party at Soonyoung’s when Wonwoo saw him walked in earlier.

“Someone should tell them it’s like, 5 minutes to time.” Seokmin reminds them.

Junhui, who’s been silent up until this point, emerges from his spot behind the curtain. “I’ll go.” 

There’s some mild rustling to Wonwoo’s left and then Seokmin is being pushed off his original spot, rolling on the floor professionally all the way to Soonyoung’s position. 

“How’d your date go with Sejeong?” Jihoon sidles up to him, pressing against Wonwoo’s side. 

His knee digs into the soft flesh on Wonwoo's waist and Wonwoo has to move a bit to the left to accommodate Jihoon in his personal space.

“It was okay.”

Minghao snorts at that and Wonwoo knocks his fist against the back of the couch, causing the younger to yelp in surprise.

Jihoon gauges his reaction and takes pity on him, leaning in close to Wonwoo before he says anything else, so that the words they exchange are more private in nature. As private as they can get when they’re hiding in someone’s living room with three other men waiting for the owner of the house to come home so they can sing happy birthday to him and eat some cake.

“How many more of those you’re going to go to before you confess to Mingyu that it’s him you want to take out on dates?”

Wonwoo pivots on his heels to get a good look at Jihoon’s face. Even in the dimmed lighting, he can tell that Jihoon’s not joking. His friend is absolutely serious. It’s a terrifying sight. 

“You think I didn’t know?” asks Jihoon, a hand curled insistently around Wonwoo’s slim wrist. “You’re my friend too.”

“Sorry, I—”

He cuts him off, swift. “What are you apologising for? You have all the rights to keep it to yourself if you’re not ready to share.”

Another apology is at the tip of Wonwoo’s tongue. He grips at the edge of the couch, unnerved by Jihoon’s sharp words and his even sharper gaze and the iron grip he has placed on Wonwoo’s body. They’re breaching through all his defences—his well-maintained facade. The last remaining shred of protection he has for himself. 

“Then nothing, I guess.” 

“I just don’t want to see you suffer unnecessarily, okay?” Jihoon’s hand leaves his, coming up his back to rest on his shoulder. He squeezes there once, more in reassurance than consolation like Seokmin had done previously. “That’s why I’m saying all this. Not because I want to stick my nose in your business and tell you what to do. Just want you happy, Nonu.”

Wonwoo starts to choke up and Jisoo’s not even _here_ yet. It’s not the right time to bring out the waterworks.

“I am _…_ ” _happy with the way things are_ , Wonwoo attempts to say, but the lie refuses to come out of him.

Jihoon shakes his head, showing Wonwoo a kind of mercy by not pushing him to finish his sentence. 

“It’s okay. Take it slow, think about it. You’ll figure it out. Let me know if you need help, okay?” Wonwoo gives him a small nod. “Now Soonyoung’s been winking at me for the last minute because he wants me to crawl over there, so I gotta go do that.”

He watches Jihoon go—or, more accurately, roll—across the room in a similar fashion to Seokmin, Soonyoung smiling as he watches his boyfriend approach, scooting to the side to make room for him. Seokmin rolls his eyes and stands up to take Junhui’s previous spot, knowing that the three of them couldn’t possibly hide behind the lamp together.  


“Hyung.” Minghao’s soft voice startles him out of his trance. “Jihoon-hyung is right.”

Wonwoo reaches blindly under the couch to pat Minghao’s hand only to have teeth biting viciously at his fingers when he plants his palm on the younger’s the face by mistake.

**December 31, 21:45.**

“Hey.” Sejeong bumps her shoulder into Wonwoo’s. “Apple juice?”

Staying true to her words, she had come with Wonwoo to Jisoo’s official birthday bash slash New Year’s party two-in-one—courtesy to his boyfriends Seungcheol and Jeonghan, who have managed this event every year since the three of them got together. The people that come by to the party changes from year to year, but it’s not Jisoo’s birthday celebration if Wonwoo doesn’t end up with an interesting character as a new friend by the conclusion of the night. 

The tradition began because Jisoo’s parents, who are busy stockholders back in the United States, usually have too much on their plate to fly out and spend time with their son—they don’t even normally ask Jisoo if he wants to come home. A rather touchy subject for the guy, one even his boyfriends have to approach with caution. Instead of pushing him to open up about the matter, they just make a point not to let Jisoo spend this time of the year alone.

Wonwoo has always thought the gesture as achingly sweet and thoughtful, therefore he makes an appearance every year that he’s invited with an easy heart. It’s his third one tonight, although it’s his first time wanting to storm out of the place before they even start drinking the good booze. He stares across the room to where Mingyu’s leaning sideways against the wall, talking to a girl whose name he’s learned is Yuju, their faces so close to each other.

Wonwoo might or might not have extorted the information from a trembling Seokmin. So what.

“Earth to Wonwoo,” Sejeong speaks again, demanding his attention. “Do you want apple juice?” 

“Don’t they have vodka?” asks Wonwoo in return. 

She sighs and follows his line of sight. Mingyu’s laughing at something Yuju said, his canines peeking out from behind the beautiful curve of his mouth. The scene invokes a whirlwind of emotions within Wonwoo: ugly spite, fire-red anger, and thrown in there a dash of sorrow. He’s turning into the green-eyed monster and the worst part of it is that he doesn’t completely understand why.

Wonwoo’s seen Mingyu flirt with others before. Plenty of times. Those occurrences didn’t seem to affect him quite like this. He always dealt with those situations with a quiet resignation that's nowhere to be found tonight. 

Maybe there’s a certain air of finality involved with Mingyu trying to get him to date someone else. There’s an ultimatum delivered with each of his text that consists of a name, a suggestion, a time and place. Mingyu will never want him—there’s no point of wishful thinking at this point when all the evidence suggests one thing. The same thing.

The idea of the two of them being romantically involved is impossible.

“You can’t stand here all night and glare at them, it’s scary,” Sejeong persuades him with her soft voice. 

“I’m not glaring.” That’s a lie. “I just don’t have my glasses on. I’m _squinting._ ”

“Wonwoo, let’s go out,” she says again, softness somehow amplified.

Damn it. Sejeong _does_ have a way to get people to open up to her and said weapon is almost as deadly as Mingyu’s puppy eyes. He nods quickly, then Sejeong’s dainty fingers slip into the spaces between his own and Wonwoo lets himself be dragged out of the place. 

Once they’re out in the cold of the night, his mind begins to clear and he realises that an apology is in order. “Sorry, it was stuffy in there and—”

“Jealousy is suffocating?” she pipes in. 

Wonwoo knows, just by looking at her once, that he’s not going to fare well in denying her the truth. He tugs the hood of his jacket over his head and sits down on the pavement, Sejeong following his lead.

**December 31, 22:54**

A group of girls shout out to Sejeong while she’s in the middle of her monologue about this new dessert place near her dorm that allegedly sells the best shaved ice in town. 

“Hey, Sejeong-ah! What’re you doing out here?”

“My date’s overheated inside!” she yells back at them, voice booming across the space. Her friends glance at Wonwoo and give him a wave, which he returns politely. “I’ll catch up!”

“You should go,” Wonwoo tells her gently. They’ve sat out here for, what, almost an entire hour or so? “It’s fine, really.”

He’s let her droll on and on for the good part of the hour. She talked about this movie she just watched last night, about the book she’s been reading for the past week. Wonwoo tried his best to give her the attention she deserved, but his brain is definitely not at its maximum capacity. His mind kept wandering to far-off places against his will. Sejeong definitely noticed his lack of participation, though she didn’t seem to mind it. She just continued on with her words, filling in the silence between them.

It’s already time to free her from these shackles. Pretty unfair to keep her any longer, right? She should be having fun with her friends, not catering to Wonwoo’s sour mood like it’s her obligation or something.

“No,” Sejeong shakes her head, disagreeing with him. “I already said I’ll keep you company.”

“Just because one of us is definitely not getting kissed at midnight, doesn’t mean the other should be just as miserable,” Wonwoo reassures her. He adds a tiny smile at the end of it, just a stretch of lips that takes a lot of effort from him this cold night.

To his pleasant surprise, she stops resisting his suggestion and stands up. Wonwoo thinks she might leave, just like that, and maybe she’ll come back sometime after midnight, having been kissed, just to check up on him because she’s entirely that nice of a person.

But Sejeong wouldn’t be herself if she doesn’t say, “Wonwoo, you know you can tell him how you feel, right? He’s Mingyu, he’ll respond with care for sure,” before she goes.

Wonwoo’s been thinking to end his suffering, too. He plans on finding the right time to come clean to Mingyu about it. He’d say, _hey, I like you more than just a friend. I thought you should know—it doesn’t matter whether you like me back or not, it’s all chill._ Then he’d face Mingyu’s rejection, sob into his pillow for two consecutive nights, and eat the big tubes of ice cream Soonyoung would bring over in an attempt to cheer him up. 

After that, things will slowly but surely return to equilibrium. Wonwoo is looking forward to that part of the deal.

“Yeah. Soon,” he tells her, making a pledge to himself not to chicken out of confessing. “Not tonight, I don’t think he has time for me.”

Sejeong squats next to him just so she can say the next sentence while looking straight into Wonwoo’s eyes. “Months ago, there was one night I forgot my charger in the club room, so I went back to get it after work. It was half-past midnight and Mingyu was there.”

He’s not sure where she’s going with this story, but decides to entertain her for the sake of it.

“What was he doing there? Sleeping?”

It wouldn’t be a surprise. Mingyu has the incredible ability to fall asleep on basically any flat surface, including but not limited to Wonwoo’s ironing board stomach whenever they’re watching movies on Mingyu’s old pull-out couch.

“Making a birthday cake,” Sejeong pauses for dramatic effect before adding, “For you.” Wonwoo’s heart begins to pound wildly inside his chest. “It had a cat’s head made out of fondant as the decorative piece. From the look on his face, he hasn’t slept for three days, and yet he was there _baking_.” 

That’s an accurate detail Sejeong wouldn’t have known if she’s making this entire thing up. The cat was a tabby and it was a carrot cake Mingyu had made for Wonwoo. The icing had read, _you’re purrfect to me!_ in a perfect cursive font created by the professional flicks of Mingyu’s wrist.

“Mingyu will always have time for you, Wonwoo.” 

Her words manage to warm him to the core, despite the harsh winds attacking his exposed face. 

Right. 

The most important thing—his _friendship_ —will survive this, no matter what. Wonwoo will do everything in his power to make sure it does. 

“Whether it be in the capacity of a friend, or, if you let it, something else entirely.”

“Go,” says Wonwoo, patting her cheek once out of both fondness and gratitude. “Warm yourself up.”

Sejeong does leave this time around, only turning to Wonwoo one last time to smile at him before she walks through the door and into the comfort of the Jisoo’s house.

**December 31, 23:12**

Wonwoo should have gone back home when Sejeong left him, because sitting out here for another fifteen minutes with no one but dead silence as company proves to be a bad decision. His mind keeps enacting possible scenarios of him confessing to Mingyu— the conclusion ranging from tender acceptance to scornful rejection.

Five more minutes, Wonwoo promises himself. He’s starting to lose feeling in his fingers anyway.

Then the devil shows up before the clock runs out, ready to overthrow his plan yet again.

“What are you doing, hyung? It’s freezing out here.”

“I like it.” Instead of turning to him, Wonwoo looks right ahead. Across the street, at the empty playground. He stays facing forward as he asks the younger, “Where’s your friend?”

“She’s inside, talking to some people I’m not really familiar with.” 

There’s an awkward pause which Wonwoo doesn’t know how to relieve.

At the moment, his feelings are all over the place. He knows it’s not fair to take it out on Mingyu, but he can’t help it. He wants to hope, though it will hurt far more if he allows himself to and things don’t end up working the way he wishes they would. The biting cold is definitely getting to his brain, jumbling all of his thoughts save for one word that keeps playing in a never-ending loop: _Mingyu_. 

If Mingyu hadn’t pushed him to go through with those dates, Wonwoo would be happy just to stay by his side as a friend. He was content with the way things were. But now, things are more complicated. Mingyu won’t be dissuaded easily from finding Wonwoo a match and Wonwoo’s not sure how long he can keep pretending like Mingyu is doing him a favour by setting him up.

Wonwoo can tell him to stop and he would, but he would ask _why_ and Wonwoo’s so bad at lying to him, he knows he’ll just end up telling Mingyu the truth.

“Did you want me to introduce you?”

Wonwoo assumes that he means Yuju.

“No, thank you.”

It’s a rather stiff answer, Wonwoo’s aware of it. Mingyu is also seemingly aware of the tension that arrives with it, as he hesitates before sitting down on the pavement next to Wonwoo.

“Sejeong-noona?” questions Mingyu, his curiosity brimming. “I saw her inside.”

He takes a deep breath through his nose, then exhales. “That ship sunk.” 

“Oh, hyung.” Mingyu’s tone is undecipherable. The tension remains in the small space between them. “I’m sorry.”

Any other day, any other time, this is when Mingyu would lean his head on Wonwoo’s shoulder and look up at the star glittering in the night sky above them. There’s just something about tonight that stops either of them from drawing the other person close. 

Truth be told, Wonwoo hasn’t seen a lot of Mingyu since the day they had lunch together with Soonyoung and Jihoon. Their mode of communication is mainly through texts and since the ones Mingyu sent him lately are almost always about this girl or that girl, Wonwoo had rather not reply to them at all.

This is the first significant interaction they’ve had in weeks and every bit of it feels wrong.

“Don’t be.” Wonwoo tries to keep his voice stable. “It’s okay.”

Mingyu, of course, isn’t convinced. “Are you okay? You’re limited to three words per sentence and not an entire dictionary, it’s making me worry.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay.” And how Wonwoo wishes that’s the end of it, but of course Mingyu just has to open his mouth again and exclaims, “We can still find someone to kiss you at midnight! There are still 40 minutes, hyung, I’m sure—”

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo says his name in a heavy exhale, which effectively stops Mingyu from talking.

The younger shrinks into himself. Wonwoo is still not looking at him, but he can tell that much. He can tell that Mingyu is playing with the lapels of his coat, hiding his long fingers inside and pushing his knees up until they’re pressed against his chest.

“Right. Sorry.”

“I don’t like girls.” A low whisper.

“W-what?”

“I don’t like girls,” Wonwoo repeats slowly, closing his eyes. “There’s no use trying to set me up with them. I’m gay.”

He hears loud rustling from his side, presumably Mingyu getting back up on his feet. In either surprise or anger or disgust, though Wonwoo prays it is just the first option.

“Hyung… I wish you’d tell me sooner.”

And it’s the clear disappointment lacing the tone of Mingyu's voice that flips everything inside Wonwoo upside down. 

He turns to face the younger, hands curled into fists on his sides, nails digging crescent moons into the soft flesh of his palm. Wonwoo suddenly just feels so _angry_. 

He rips the hood of his jacket away from his face so he can look at Mingyu properly. “So what? So you can set me up with guys instead? I’m sorry that my love life is so uneventful you think I need help in getting some.” Wonwoo glares up at him, still sitting down on the sidewalk, cold and sad and absolutely _wrecked_. 

“I don’t need you to auction me off, Kim Mingyu. I’m not that desperate.”

It’s demeaning. No matter how strongly Wonwoo feels for Mingyu, he won’t let himself be treated with less than the amount of respect he deserves. Mingyu looks surprised by his sudden outburst, probably because Wonwoo’s not the type of person to raise his voice to start with, but he’s quick to get back on his feet.

All of a sudden, he’s crouching in front of Wonwoo again. There’s warmth covering Wonwoo’s right fist and it takes him a moment to realise that it’s Mingyu’s hand over his. 

“ _No_ , Wonwoo-hyung.” He shakes his head fervently to show his objection to Wonwoo’s previous statement. “I wish you’d tell me sooner so I could have asked you out myself instead of having to go through the pain of watching you hold hands with Sejeong-noona.”

Wonwoo blinks. 

Mingyu saw that? Mingyu felt pain… watching that? Did Mingyu just say he wanted to ask Wonwoo out himself?

“What about Yuju?” His stupid mouth lets loose.

The hand’s that covering his own squeezes gently around Wonwoo. “Yuju has a boyfriend. He’s away on an internship programme so I offered to stick around for the night, in case she doesn’t see anyone she knows. It's her first time here, you know the drill. Jeonghan-hyung just adopted her from one of his acting classes this past semester.”

God. How is a man expected not to fall in love with Kim Mingyu when his heart is this pure?When he is so selfless, so kind? These thoughts fill his head first, before Mingyu’s explanation finally sinks in. 

Oh. Perhaps he’d been so hasty in interrogating Seokmin he didn’t actually let the poor man relay the most important piece of information about Yuju to him. That she's committed.

“Are you…” Wonwoo trails off, unsure of what this meant for the both of them.

“I want to kiss you so badly right now.” Mingyu’s thumb caresses the back of his hand, slowly coaxing Wonwoo to open his fist. It’s working wonders. “But I won’t if you don’t want me to.”

Wonwoo, non-plussed by how the situation is turning out, can only answer, “It’s not midnight yet.”

Mingyu smiles, lips stretched out widely in his glee. Wonwoo's reminded of how beautiful he is when he’s unabashedly happy like this—it is such a mesmerising sight. One he imagines he’d see at the gates of heaven.

Unfortunately for him, the smile is soon replaced with a more serious expression, before Mingyu gulps.

Wonwoo watches the movement of his Adam’s apple. Completely, totally, absolutely fixated.

Then, “Can’t we go for practice rounds first?”

_Rounds_. Plural.

“I want the one at midnight to be perfect,” Mingyu reasons, then he’s getting back up on his feet.

A hand is outstretched to him and Wonwoo takes it to help himself up, only then realising how much his bottom has frozen from sitting on the ground. Before he can do anything about it, Mingyu leans forward and his wide palms, warm as they are, immediately flatten across the curve of Wonwoo’s ass to get rid of the snow all over his pants. 

It’s cold, Wonwoo tells himself, that’s why he’s turning red at the otherwise innocent gesture.

Mingyu seems to arrive at the same realisation, too, and awkwardly stops his hand from moving, turning into a statue himself. Frozen. It’s embarrassing and endearing at the same time, so Wonwoo reaches out, cold fingers splayed across the line of Mingyu’s jaw, then tilts his face down to finally kiss him like he’s wanted for months. Once their lips meet, the hands resting on his bottom come alive once more and they move up to rest on Wonwoo’s hips.

When they resurface for air, Mingyu huffs a cloud against Wonwoo’s mouth and presses their foreheads together. Wonwoo tangles his fingers in Mingyu’s fluffy black locks, twirling the shorter strands at the back of his head before he strokes the younger's nape.

“Do you think Jeonghan-hyung will be upset if we ditch the party?”

Mingyu pulls away just enough to look Wonwoo in the eyes. “I’ll suffer the consequences gladly. You?”

“Won’t you protect me from him?”

“ _Hyung_ ,” the younger whines in protest. “You can’t look at me from behind your lashes and say words like that. How am I supposed to hold myself back?”

Wonwoo licks his lips then bites the bottom one, pulling it in between his teeth. “Who’s asking you to hold back?”

“ _Hyung_ ,” Mingyu whines again, his tone more urgent and pitch slightly higher than before. 

The only response Wonwoo gives him is to pull Mingyu down the street by the front of his jacket, all the way to where he’d parked his car. Once inside, Wonwoo turns on the heater first and his phone second. He catches Mingyu frowning when Sejeong’s name appears on his screen, but he needs to text her to let her know he’d be leaving first. It’s only fair that way. 

The frown remains on Mingyu’s face even after Wonwoo pockets the device and reaches over the console to hold his hand. Mingyu stubbornly looks out the window, refusing to turn his face toward Wonwoo. He relaxes a little when Wonwoo traces his fingers over his knuckles and presses into the dips between them.

Pointless contact… yet it soothes Mingyu.

“Wanna come home with me?”

At Wonwoo’s question, Mingyu quickly whips around to search the older’s face for any sign of deception. He finds none, simply because there is none. So Mingyu nods his assent and Wonwoo leans forward to capture his lips in another sweet kiss before he puts the gear into drive.

A few words are shared between the two of them during the ride. Wonwoo keeps his eyes on the road while Mingyu keeps his eyes on Wonwoo’s side profile. It isn’t a long journey by any means, and Wonwoo swears he isn’t speeding, but they arrive at his apartment building way faster than the average trip usually takes him. 

Wonwoo steps out of the car and waits for Mingyu to walk around to his side, slipping his hand in Mingyu’s as soon as it’s within his reach. 

“Bohyuk?” Mingyu asks once they’re in front of Wonwoo’s apartment, the older fumbling with the keys to find which one unlocks the door.

“On a trip with his friends. He won’t be back until the 5th.”

He glances at Mingyu and gives him a meaningful look, one that leaves practically no room for alternative interpretation. Wonwoo barely manages to hold his laugh when Mingyu’s jaw drops and his mouth forms a perfect O shape. The shorter man just leans up to kiss the human-puppy hybrid on the cheek before he pushes the door open.

Being inside Wonwoo's apartment seems to flip a switch inside Mingyu, as the next thing Wonwoo knows is he’s being pinned against the wall with a force he’s never seen come from the younger before. Mingyu’s strong arms are bracketing the sides of his head, his wet mouth sucking and tongue lapping wildly at the base of Wonwoo’s throat, undoubtedly leaving a mark. 

Wonwoo moans at the thought of his otherwise unblemished skin being inked with purple lovebites, courtesy to the man in front of him. 

Mingyu’s ears perk up. 

“Do that again.” It almost sounds like a demand.

Raising his brows, Wonwoo throws down the gauntlet. “Make me.”

And he knows Mingyu’s not one to back away from a challenge. He dips back down again to kiss Wonwoo, tongue slipping out of his mouth to trace the seam of Wonwoo’s lips, asking for entrance. Wonwoo gives him permission without having to think about it; his knees buckle from the sensation of Mingyu’s tongue pressing down on his. 

His arms come up to encircle Mingyu’s neck, latching onto the younger for support. Mingyu, catching up to the situation, places his hands beneath Wonwoo’s thighs to prop him up. Wonwoo’s legs come to wrap around Mingyu’s waist as the younger wedges him between his own body and the wall. 

“Bed,” Wonwoo gasps out in between kisses. “Now.”

To his credit, Mingyu immediately follows his direction, carrying Wonwoo into the bedroom while still kissing him. They fall onto the bed clumsily, Mingyu knocking his chin on Wonwoo’s forehead in their struggle, but the laughter soon dissipates when Mingyu’s hands move to unzip Wonwoo’s jacket. 

The act of undressing another person has always seemed intimate to Wonwoo, but he never knew how delicate it is until he’s performing the deed on Mingyu. His fingers tremble slightly while unbuttoning the younger’s shirt, but Mingyu closes the gap between them and Wonwoo finds courage in the softness of his lips. 

Once they’ve successfully stripped down to their underwear, their other articles of clothing thrown carelessly to the floor beside Wonwoo’s bed, Mingyu descends from above him to line up their bodies from their chests all the way down to their ankles. Carefully, the younger parts Wonwoo’s legs with one knee, his mouth still attached to the sharp line of Wonwoo’s jaw. 

Said knee slowly moves up and up until it finally meets a warm, welcoming mass.

“You’re hard,” Mingyu blinks down at him, his eyes sparkling in delight. 

Wonwoo lets out an exasperated sigh at that. “Do you have to say it out loud?”

“Yeah. So I’d know that this is real.”

His heart skips a beat. Wonwoo arches off the bed to kiss Mingyu again, teeth grazing along his full bottom lip just enough to draw out a low groan. “Does this not feel real to you?”

“Wonwoo…” The honorific is lost somewhere in his arousal. Wonwoo himself is lost in the touch of Mingyu’s fingers on his bare waist; he has no thoughts to protest. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to this.”

The sincerity in his voice, the vulnerability in his eyes, the gentleness of his touch. They all, in combination, enamours Wonwoo wholly. Mingyu enchants him without even trying and Wonwoo falls a willing victim under his spell. 

Wonwoo moves his hand to breach the waistband of Mingyu’s underwear and wrap around his cock, stroking it to hardness. Mingyu lets out a guttural moan and Wonwoo thinks it might be better to do it while he’s sitting on Mingyu’s lap, so he pushes the younger by the shoulders. 

A bit impatiently, though it gets the job done. Mingyu’s sitting with his back against Wonwoo’s headboard in no time, the older man straddling him.

Wonwoo continues his care of Mingyu’s manhood as soon as he’s seated on him. He spits once, saliva landing right on Mingyu’s slit; he smears it around the head, mixing it with Mingyu’s precum to help the glide of his hand. The other one he uses to travel the expanse of Mingyu’s stomach and then his chest. He kisses him wherever his mouth can reach, feeling slightly jealous that the sun got there long before he did. 

Mingyu just grips him tight by the curve of his waist, the pads of his fingers forming indentations on Wonwoo’s flesh. Marks Wonwoo would gratefully bear for the price of being able to watch Mingyu rise to his climax underneath his touch.

“10!” they suddenly hear, jostling both of them a little on the bed due to their surprise. 

They pause for a second, looking out Wonwoo's windows to see the explosion of colours painting the skyline. The fireworks must have started for a while now, they've just been so immersed in each other that they barely noticed.

“9!”

Wonwoo turns to face Mingyu once again, kisses the corner of Mingyu’s mouth, and speeds up his movement.

“8!”

Mingyu’s hips buck upward. He’s thrusting helplessly into Wonwoo’s fist, curses start to spill from his sinful mouth as he races Wonwoo to the finish line.

“7!”

“Wonwoo—”

A hand slides over his nape and pulls Wonwoo forward until their lips meet— _clash_ is a much better word for it _._ Their teeth knock in their urgency, in their haste, and it’s a little awkward but Wonwoo doesn’t care and he thinks Mingyu doesn’t either.

“6!”

Wonwoo feels Mingyu’s thrusting something hot and slippery inside his mouth. It should be weird that he’s somewhat tracing the insides of Wonwoo’s cheek with his tongue, but he won’t lie—it feels so damn good.

“5!”

With the help of his remaining brain cells, Wonwoo thumbs over the slit of Mingyu’s fully erect cock, the younger panting and pleading all at once, surrendering himself completely to Wonwoo. Then he applies just the right amount of pressure.

“4!”

“I’m going to come,” Mingyu huffs eagerly against Wonwoo’s lips.

“3!”

Wonwoo’s hand on his shoulder moves upward until it reaches his face, then he pushes Mingyu’s dark bangs out of his eyes so he can look into them as he admits, “Me too.”

“2!”

“Come, Gyu. Hyung’s got you,” he whispers, cheek touching Mingyu’s own, mouth against the shell of his ear.

“1!”

Mingyu does exactly what Wonwoo tells him to, spurts of white smearing Wonwoo’s hand, some shooting to his wrist. The ferocity of his orgasm is completely absent in the way he takes Wonwoo’s face in his hands and prods open his mouth with a thumb, slanting his mouth over Wonwoo’s. 

A perfect fit.

Happy New Year's, indeed.

**1 January, 01:25**

The buzzing of his phone on top of the bedside drawer jerks Wonwoo awake. He rubs the deep sleep away from his eyes and squints at his bedside clock—five minutes to half-past one. Mingyu remains locked safely in his embrace, his breathing deep and calm, an indication that he’s still sound asleep. 

_Good_ , Wonwoo smiles to himself in his satisfaction. 

He’d have something to look forward to come morning: waking up next to Mingyu.

Slowly, he removes his hold on the younger and slips out of bed. Wonwoo almost makes it out of the room without making any loud noises when he unexpectedly hears Mingyu’s voice.

“If you’re going to sneak out and pretend like this didn’t happen…” Wonwoo startles, stopping dead in his tracks. “I just want you to know that I really like you.” Mingyu’s breath gets caught at the back of his throat, forcing him to clear it before he continues.

If Mingyu had said the words with an easy tone and tried to pass it off as something light, Wonwoo would have been livid. He would've demanded Mingyu to tell him the exact kind of person the younger thinks he is, that he'd sleep with a good friend and risk ruining their relationship for no good reason. But Mingyu sounds like he’s at the precipice of crying and it’s entirely too painful for Wonwoo to bear.

He turns around to face him only to find Mingyu facing the other direction. He’s curled up on the bed with his broad shoulders drawn in and his eyes fixed on the open window.

“I have for quite some time now, it’s kind of impossible not to? Yeah. And I’m glad we’re friends, Wonwoo-hyung. If that’s all I can be to you, I’m already grateful for it.”

Wonwoo pads back to the bed to join him under the covers.

“I like you too.” Wonwoo snakes an arm around Mingyu’s middle and scoots closer to him, returning to the position they were in before he rose from the bed barely a minute ago. 

In order to get things out of the way, Wonwoo rests his chin on Mingyu’s upper arm and asks, “Why’d you set me up with other people if you like me?”

“Because…” Mingyu shudders, heavy. “I didn’t know I had a chance. Thought it’d be easier to get over you if I see you happy with someone else. You deserve to be happy, okay? Even if I can't make you.”

Ah.

They’ve both been really stupid, haven’t they? 

“Masochist,” Wonwoo comments, half-joking. The remark makes him a hypocrite, but Mingyu isn’t on a need-to-know basis of the extent of Wonwoo’s own masochism. "You make me _really_ happy, Mingyu."

He can see Mingyu's expression shifts, but he hasn't turned to Wonwoo just yet.

“What about you? Why were you going to leave?”

Wonwoo kisses him on the side of his neck and tightens his hold around Mingyu’s body. “I need to pee, Gyu.”

He feels Mingyu shaking after that and gets scared for a split second, thinking that he’s actually made him cry—but then Wonwoo realises that he’s _laughing_. 

“God, I’m sorry—” his voice breaks, but Wonwoo finds it okay because he’s smiling again. “That was super dramatic and you just wanted to _pee_. I can’t—” Mingyu snorts unattractively. “ _Sorry_. This is _your_ apartment, why would _you_ even go instead of telling _me_ to leave, shit. I got scared. Jeez, hyung, you scare me so much.”

All Wonwoo does is nuzzle the younger’s cheek with his nose, his heart swelling from affection, from fondness, from _love_.

“Can I pee now?”

Mingyu hums thoughtfully, considering his question. “Only if you promise to come back to me after.”

“I promise.”

The younger angles his face to the side so that Wonwoo has better access to his mouth. Wonwoo takes advantage of this development happily, pressing his lips against Mingyu’s own over and over again before he finally slides out of bed, leaving Mingyu to thrash around in it to show his objection.

It’s okay, for Wonwoo keeps his promise in the end. 

They’re okay, because Mingyu said he’d find Wonwoo someone to kiss when the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s, and he did exactly that. 

And if he’s the person Wonwoo kisses at all the subsequent countdowns thereafter, it’s all the more reason for the two of them to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on [twitter](https://twitter.com/bioominsummer) and [curiouscat](curiouscat.me/bloominsummer)
> 
> let me know what you think <3


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